Kukla's Korner Hockey

So no one should be surprised about the current predicament of hockey fans, in which nearly 40 million U.S. households - about 35 percent of the total - can’t watch the many playoff games on Versus.
That includes a couple of million homes in our area, 600,000 of which are Cablevision customers, who won’t see the Rangers play the Sabres Tuesday and will miss any game in the conference or Stanley Cup Finals not televised by NBC.
This is old news in other parts of the nation, where many fans freaked out last spring in the first season of the Versus (then called OLN) deal with the NHL.
At the time Versus was available in only 49 percent of cable homes in the Los Angeles area, angering Ducks fans, to cite one example. That figure is up to 59 percent now.
Versus is in only 61 percent of homes in metro Detroit, the nation’s foremost hockey hotbed.

The HD broadcast is nowhere to be found. on VSGLF, the VS dedicated HD channnel, we have golf. On INHD, which is normally the backup channel, we have an NBA game scheduled for 8pm.
So no HD for Wings fans with Comcast in the Detroit area.
If someone finds it, please pass it on.

added 8:16pm, Versus, you have to do a better job of informing your viewers about your HD broadcasts.

This just in: Roberto Luongo is mortal.
Casual fans might be asking, “Roberto who?” But the puckheads among us must be asking, “Roberto Luongo is mortal? You can’t be serious, can you?”
We’re serious. Very serious.
The Anaheim Ducks did more than beat the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday in the Stanley Cup playoffs. In a 5-1 victory, they dispelled the myth that Luongo, Vancouver’s splendid goaltender, can single-handedly carry the Canucks into the Western Conference finals. The Ducks did this in astonishing fashion, too.

Note: No disrespect to the Ducks—their goals were well-earned, and Luongo has struggled against them all season—but Mr. Peter’s entire article seems to be prefaced on the idea of The End of Luongo. Well, Luongo got scored on 4 times in regulation in the first game of the Dallas series as well. Just because he didn’t dominate in Game #1 of the 2nd round, doesn’t necessarily mean he’s out of this series. (Just thought I’d point that out. Hmph.)

Originally scheduled to be played on Wednesday night, Jan. 16, Atlanta’s first NHL All-Star Game instead will be played on Sunday, Jan. 27.
That is the Sunday between the NFL’s conference championship games and the Super Bowl.
The game time “has not been formalized,” Brown said.
Preliminary events, which typically include a skills competition and a young stars game, now will be held on Jan. 26.
The NHL played this year’s All-Star Game in Dallas on a Wednesday, the first time since 1989 the game had been played in mid-week.

The Boston Bruins have agreed to a one-year contract extension with goaltender Hannu Toivonen. Per team policy, terms of the deal will not be disclosed.
“We feel that Hannu has shown the dedication and the proper attitude the whole year,” said Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli. “Hannu has the right head, the right heart and all of the tools to be a good NHL goalie for many years. We felt that it was imperative to get him signed at this point.”

Joe Nieuwendyk will return to the Florida Panthers as the Special Consultant to the General Manager, the team announced on Thursday.
Nieuwendyk will work with the team’s hockey operation personnel in a variety of facets that includes scouting, drafting and signing of potential players, as well as player development.

This morning, Wings coach Mike Babcock said Holmstrom was day-to-day, and that he hoped Holmstrom would play at some point during the series.
As relayed Wednesday by Expressen’s Gunnar Nordstrom, Holmstrom said doctors have told him he had to be inactive for several days after Sunday in order to avoid further damage to his eye. Holmstrom was told that if there is any re-bleeding, it would affect his eyesight permanently.

So, forget the opener and the key then becomes Game Two. Win it and the Canucks have a chance going home. Lose it and it becomes a matter of time before the end arrives, essentially of whether Roberto Luongo can steal a game or two to preserve hope. Remember, though, Anaheim is the only Western Conference team he did not and still has not beaten this season, though Game 1 remained close longer than it should have because of him.